


The Letter

by hunters_retreat



Series: Further Interruptions [17]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types
Genre: Alphonse is ready to murder anyone who hurts his brother, First time Ed sees Roy since, M/M, Reunion-ish, Rumors
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-29
Updated: 2018-10-29
Packaged: 2019-08-09 17:11:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16454012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hunters_retreat/pseuds/hunters_retreat
Summary: “There’s a laundry list of things people have said over the years, but it all amounts to one thing.  You.  Did.  Mustang.  Ever since you joined the military, you’ve kept him on your side by letting him bend you over whatever surface was closest.  Why else would you still be here, without even alchemy to make you useful.”





	The Letter

**Author's Note:**

> So... Ed is back in Central. Should be good times, right? :P Beta'd by my dear kzellr!

“What the hell did you just say?”

The guy was bigger than Ed, but for all Ed’s intelligence, he’d never been able to walk away from a fight.  Hell, if Ed was, the guy wouldn’t have anything to talk about anyway.

“Ed, just leave it,” Alphonse said quietly at his brother’s side.

Al knew better.  He knew there was just something in Ed that couldn’t walk away.  Not from words like that.  And certainly not from words _about_ that. 

He’d had a good week too.  He’d been buried in research that was interesting all week, he’d talked to Winry two days ago and found out that Granny’s health had taken a turn for the better thanks to some tips and tricks from Alphonse’s latest visit to Xing, and his boyfriend had taken him on a surprise dinner date the night before. 

So, Ed didn’t want this fight, but he wouldn’t back down either. 

“I said,” the soldier stood from his table and he was even bigger than Ed had thought, “we all know exactly how you earned your rank, and your alchemy had nothing to do with it.”

“Just exactly what do you think I did?”

The guy leaned closer and he towered over Ed, but being the smaller opponent had never bothered Ed. 

“There’s a laundry list of things people have said over the years, but it all amounts to one thing.  You.  Did.  Mustang.  Ever since you joined the military, you’ve kept him on your side by letting him bend you over whatever surface was closest.  Why else would you still be here, without even alchemy to make you useful.”

There was a lot to swallow in that one insult.  First, the rumors had been around for years – since he’d been 12, in fact – that Mustang had recruited him so young because of some nefarious sexual desires.  Second, that Mustang only put up with him because of it.  Third, that Ed was useless without his alchemy.

“Guess it goes to show you why I’m an officer and you aren’t,” Ed said, though he hated having rank, he wasn’t above pulling rank to smack people in the face with it when they deserved it.  “You see, I’m smart enough not to make insinuations about a general before I make sure he’s not around to hear it.”

“What the fuck are you talking-“

“Fullmetal.”  Mustang chimed in with the same impeccable timing he’d always had when Ed had worked for him. 

Ed had heard the General’s voice in the dining hall and he’d been leaving to avoid this confrontation.  But even if they didn’t work together anymore, he knew that the man would come over to see what sort of commotion Ed was causing. 

“General Mustang,” Ed said, pleasantly surprised by the way his voice stayed calm. 

His opponent turned sharply to see the General and snapped to a quick salute which Mustang ignored.

“Fullmetal, I heard you had come back to Central.  I hadn’t expected you to be starting trouble here.”

The words were the right tone of snark and rebuttal, but Mustang looked Ed over like he was checking for wounds.  His gaze darted over Ed, before he finally met Ed’s eyes and Ed wished now that he’d walked away from the fight.

Ed couldn’t help the way his own eyes checked the General over.  His desk job still hadn’t made him fat so Ed assumed he was as physically fit as ever.  The dark circles that had haunted his eyes before were gone, though he doubted they ever left completely with his line of work.  He looked impeccable put together, from the shine of his shoes to the rough and tumble hairstyle he preferred.  He looked good.  Healthy.  Full of life.    

It had been more than two years since he’d last seen Roy Mustang.  Two years since Ed had run out of his house and all the way to Aerugo to forget about him.  Two years since he’d last heard his voice.  While Ed had moved past the pain and the anger, he realized the core of his feelings for the bastard were still intact. 

“You know me,” he said as he looked over his shoulder at Alphonse, just to check.  Alphonse had gone deathly still and Ed just needed to be sure his little brother wasn’t about to get arrested for murder.  If looks could kill, there would be a dead General at his feet, but thankfully that wasn’t illegal in Amestris. 

“Al and I just came in for a debriefing with Armstrong.  I should have known better than to try to get some grub.  The company is lousy around here.”

“You should go to my office.  The team would be more than happy to keep you entertained.  Unfortunately, I have a meeting that I probably won’t be able to get out of until long after hours.  If you’ll excuse me,” he said with a nod.  He turned his attention to the other man then.

“Private Brontsma, if you’ll accompany me.  I believe we have time to discuss your behavior towards an officer on the way to my meeting.”

“General, sir.”

Mustang walked off with the very unhappy private trailing behind him and Ed let out a deep breath.  He felt a bump against his back and looked over his shoulder at his brother.

“You okay, Ed?”

He knew what he was asking but it really wasn’t the time or place to dissect that.  Was he okay after seeing Mustang for the first time since that night?  Not really.  He felt sick to his stomach.  He felt torn between wanting to stalk him until they could talk in private and wanting to walk away and never breach that distance. 

He was saved from saying anything when another voice called to him.

“Ed?”

He turned the other way to see his boyfriend at one of the tables, watching the interaction with interest.  Ed let out a deep breath. 

“Hey, Tate.  I didn’t see you over there.”

The men at his table all left and it was obvious lunch time was over for the crew but Tate waited as Ed sat beside him. 

“Brother?”

“Meet me at the office, Al.  It’ll be good to see Hawkeye and the others while the Bastard is away.”

Alphonse nodded and Ed watched him go.  Alphonse didn’t necessarily approve of Tate but Ed knew his brother was hesitant to leave his side after seeing Mustang.  It would be a long talk tonight, he was sure of it.  If he couldn’t find a way out of it. 

“What the hell was that all about?” Tate asked once they were alone at the table.

Ed had never really talked about his work with Tate.  He knew about Ed’s past as an alchemist of course, but he’d never spoke his title or discussed what he’d done before his alchemy had been taken.  Or why.  Tate worked as a diplomat and he understood the need for secrecy and discretion, even with your loved ones.

“No big deal.  It happened a lot when I was working in Central.”

“People often claimed you… and General Mustang …”

“Colonel Mustang at the time, and yes.  I was too young to be in the military.  Mustang recruited me anyway because I was too awesome to pass up.”

“You worked directly with General Roy Mustang?”

A sharp intake of breath was all Ed allowed to show of his reaction, because he knew the look in Tate’s eyes.  He’d seen it plenty of times over the years.  People either loved Mustang or they hated him.  Tate looked more like… hero worship.

“Yeah, I worked for the Bastard.”

“Ed, you can’t call a general bastard.”

Ed had done it plenty of times when bitching to Tate about work before, but he knew why Tate was calling him out on it now.  And he hated it.  Ed didn’t wish Mustang any ill will, but he certainly wasn’t going to sing his praises; he wouldn’t have done that even when they were actually in bed together.

“I’ve called him worse.  And to his face.  Often when I worked for him.  Don’t worry.  The last thing I have to worry about here is being on Mustang’s good side.”

“You were actually on his team?”

“Yes.”  He hated repeating himself.

“You were,” and Tate looked at him differently then too.  Ed didn’t like it at all.  “That makes you the Fullmetal Alchemist.”

Ed wiggled his automail hand.  “Metal and all.  Just minus the alchemy these days.”

“How did that happen?”

“Look, Tate, we’ve been dating off and on for a year and you suddenly need to know right now?  This isn’t the time or place.”

“Sorry, no, of course not.  I just … there were so many rumors when Bradley was deposed and Mustang’s entire team was under so much scrutiny for so long.  I just never put your name with all of that.”

Ed let out a deep breath and gave Tate a small smile.  “Yeah, Mustang did his best to keep Al and I out of the spotlight for a while after that.  I guess putting it together like this this is kind of hard to deal with.  Sorry.  I just … don’t talk about those days, back when I had my alchemy.”

That wasn’t true.  What he didn’t talk about was Mustang.  He kept that part of himself hidden away and buried.  He sure as hell wasn’t talking about it here.

“Sorry.  I have to get back to work, but tonight?” Tate offered.

“Thought you’d be sick of me after last night,” Ed said.

“Never,” Tate answered with a sincere smile.  “I can stop and get Aerugan and you can come by my place?”

Ed nodded.  “Alright.  I’ll be by around 7:00?”

“Yeah, that’s perfect.”

“I better get going before my brother comes looking for me,” Ed said after a moment of silence when Tate didn’t get up to leave.

“Right.  You’re going up to Mustang’s office to meet with his team?”

“Yeah.  They’re old friends.  We’ve kept in touch with them over the last two years while we were in Aerugo.  I haven’t seen them since I moved back.”

“Ed, you’ve been here for four months.”

“Yeah, we’ll I’m bad at that sort of thing,” he lied.  It wasn’t that he hadn’t wanted to.  He just hadn’t been willing to face Mustang. 

“I could walk you up.”

And there was that look that made Ed uncomfortable again.  He had a sinking feeling in his stomach and he tried to set it aside, but it wouldn’t let go.  The last thing Ed wanted to do was make an introduction between Tate and the General. 

“I just remembered I need to grab something from the library first.  You want to walk me over there?”

“I would love to, but I just realized how long overdue I’m going to be.  I better get going.”

“Yeah, I get that,” Ed tried to muster up some grace but he wasn’t sure how far he’d succeeded.  “See you tonight still?”

“Of course,” Tate said as he got up from his table.  “See you later tonight.”  He stepped a little closer and spoke softly.  “And tell your brother not to worry when you don’t come home.”

Ed rolled his eyes but he smiled at the parting shot.   Ed might be protective of his brother, but it was nothing like the overprotective side of Alphonse that had come out over the last few years.

He waited until Tate was gone so he wouldn’t see him head in the opposite direction of the library.  He felt eyes on his back as he moved and when he turned his head, he could see Mustang at the end of the corridor.  He was talking to Armstrong and a few other military types Ed didn’t know, but Mustang was watching him.  Ed had no doubt that he’d seen Tate and the way he’d stepped closer.  He knew Mustang.  The man was already coming to conclusions – the right ones damn him – and would have the truth of it before the night was out.

When Ed raised his chin and met Mustang’s eyes, the General quickly looked away. 

Ed turned and left the room, making his way as quickly as he could to the office.  Mustang wouldn’t come back until late, that was a promise to let Ed know that he’d give him time to see his friends without forcing Ed to face him. 

It was the one time he knew he could walk in the office without the Bastard behind closed doors and just a kick away from being able to confront him.

Ed had been dating Tate off and on since they’d met in Aerugo a year ago, seriously for the last four months since he’d moved back to Amestris.  But Ed couldn’t deny that he still had feelings for Mustang. 

And he still didn’t know what to do about Mustang’s goddamned letter.

 

 


End file.
